How Do You Manage?
Do you have any tips for shopping with kids?
Lots of families are shopping this weekend to take advantage of the state’s sales tax holiday. I spoke to a few parents today, and they took various approaches.
Some took all the kids at once so they could try on items and complete shopping in one day.
Some took their children in shifts, so they could focus on one wardrobe at a time.
Some left the kids at home, and picked out the clothes they thought would best fit.
Vaden Twidwell of Piedmont was shopping for school uniforms for her two grand-daughters. Bringing them along would have cost her more, she said. “They put everything in the basket and pretty soon we’ve spent $300.”
I have two daughters, and find it’s easier to shop alone for the four-year-old. But the 9-year-old has her own sense of fashion and would prefer to pick out her own clothes.
When I must take them both to the store, I find it’s easier to put the toddler in a shopping cart and distract her with a toy or candy while I shop. It might not be the best parenting method, but it usually works.
How do you handle things? Send me your tips at ssimpson@oklahoman.com and I’ll share them with our readers.
Susan Simpson, Education Writer
Work Hazard
Memo to Boss: You knew this would happen.
Sending me to talk to shoppers on this first day of our state’s first sales tax holiday … well, that’s like sending the fox to the henhouse.
I couldn’t help myself. Surrounded by sales signs, and feeling peer-pressure from the enthusiatic consumers I encountered, I put down my notebook and picked up my checkbook. (For the record, I’m counting the buying time as my lunch break.)
But wow, did I hit the jackpot! Regular readers here know about my store coupon savvy. I had a 15 percent-off coupon for Kohl’s, where everything in the store was on sale — some things 90 percent off, plus there was the sales tax break.
I got two t-shirts for my girls, two dresses for my toddler, two shirts, a skirt and dress for me — all for $118.65. I saved $20 on sales tax alone. And then, I got a $20 coupon good for my next visit to Kohls.
Fellow shoppers seemed to be doing as well. The check-out line wasn’t long, but took awhile because some customers were really stocking up, buying dozens of items, their carts overflowing.
So, Boss, I’d like to go ahead and volunteer to do this story next year. And the year after, and after….
Memo to husband, balancer of all checkbooks: My boss made me do it.
Susan Simpson, Education Writer (and shopper extraordinaire)
Shop Talk
Tomorrow is a good day. I get paid — to shop.
Well, not to actually buy things (though I might) but to hit the stores and talk to shoppers taking advantage of our state’s first sales tax holiday.
Most clothing items (for children and adults) under $100 each qualify for the three-day sales tax exemption approved this year by state lawmakers
And many stores are adding their own discounts to the mix, in order to lure more back-to-school shoppers to their aisles.
Quite naturally, I volunteered for this story. How often do you get to call the boss and say “I’m at the mall now. I’ll be in later.”
I’m not sure when and where I’ll be, but if you see a nosy redhead eying your purchases, don’t call security. I’ll just be asking if you got any bargains.
And I’ll let you know, on this blog, how things are going. You can e-mail me as well at ssimpson@oklahoman.com
It’s a tough job but somebody’s gotta do it.
Susan Simpson, Education Writer
